…as an open platform for critical discussion and debate about the issues facing the world’s metropolitan centres…Featuring regular contributions from established experts and new voices, we’ll be peeling back the glossy veneer of the computer renderings, and going beyond the facts and figures of the city sales pitch, to ask what our future cities will actually be like – and how we can influence them for the better.

My blog was lucky enough to be featured on the website’s interactive guide to the best city blogs around the world as the ‘local urban voice’ of Addis Ababa. Given that I have only recently started this blog, and have lived in Addis Ababa for just over 6 months, this is a bit of on overstatement and I want to clarify that I do not wish to make such claim.

However, as an outsider who has visited and lived in a number of cities around the world I do believe I can make a useful contribution to the discussions around urban development in Addis Ababa and cities more broadly (along with other issues related to complexity, sustainability and development).

In the meantime, given the increase in traffic I have experience thanks to my inclusion on the Guardians lists of city blogs, I have compiled a short list of links that may be useful to those looking for further ideas and information related to urban issues in Addis Ababa: